Dying Young (1991)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely the worst movie.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Hilary O'Neil (Julia Roberts) is bitter after her boyfriend cheated on her. She applies for a personal live-in nursing job but she's dismissed almost immediately. Victor Geddes (Campbell Scott) is a rich young man dying of leukemia. He over-rules his father and hires the sassy girl with the short red dress. As they get closer, they find themselves in a complicated relationship.Julia Roberts is beautiful and sassy. There're a couple of fun early moments. Campbell Scott never convinced me as a romantic lead in this movie. The romantic chemistry doesn't work for me. Director Joel Schumacher has done plenty of good work but I don't think he does well with romantic material. It's a lot of overwrought love in this and it all feels very forced.

At the time of this movies release, Julie Roberts was flying high thanks to "Steel Magnolias" in 1989 and the mega hit "Pretty Woman" in 1990. Sadly dying Young misses the mark by a long way.Plot in A Paragraph: Hilary O'Neil (Julia Roberts) has little luck in work or love. After recently Leaving her boyfriend when she caught him cheating, Hilary finds herself living with her eccentric mother (Ellen Burstyn). One day, Hilary answers an ad in a newspaper for a nurse to Victor Geddes (Campbell Scott) a well-educated, rich, and shy 28 year-old who is dying due to leukemia. Despite his father's protests, Victor hires Hilary to be his live-in caretaker while he undergoes a traumatic course of chemotherapy.This movie is a dull and dreary affair that attempts to manipulate the viewers emotions at every turn. The direction is awkward, and it's easy to see why director by Joel Schumacher did not make any more movies like this. If you like Roberts, watch it once, and make up your own mind.

This was a positive surprise! I expected something much more naive, romantic, and over-sentimental, but it was quite realistic - but still fine and moving. I have had someone dying from me from cancer not long ago - not a lover but a very good friend - so I recognize much in the movie. My friend also came to a point, when she did no longer feel the awful side-effects of the chemo worthwhile - but instead wanted her hair back, and to live as normally as possible and only take pain relief until the end. An end which would have been inevitable anyway. The actors are all first-class, and there are also many beautiful exteriors and interiors, party scenes, nature scenery etc.. The only thing I disliked a little, was the "My Fair Lady"-concept. I mean: the rich and well-educated man, who teaches the simple but brazen working- class girl about art-history etc. - while she teaches him about life. And then, of course, they fall in love. That felt dated, and also for 1991 - it would have been more expected in a movie from 1941...But all in all, I find the movie well-worth watching!

To put it simply, the opening third of this film is intense. Quite intense. Campbell Scott's Vincent is a tortured young man who only wants to live enough to prepare himself for death. Julia Roberts' Hillary is essentially her Vivian from Pretty Woman (I hope everyone who sees this film is as unimpressed as I was with the shameless allusion to Pretty Woman when Hillary steps off the bus in -- gasp -- a red suit), but it suits the film well. But the passionate acting from Roberts, yes, but mostly Scott absolutely rends one's heart. When Hillary declares that she thought "this guy was going to die," the audience is right there with her. Scott's performance is so rare and so special during these opening minutes because he is not self-pitying. He is aware of his disease, and he's trying to fight it. He's beyond emotional pain, and as he struggles through the physical pain, we start to feel it too. By the time Victor announces that his treatment is finished and he's ready for a vacation, the audience is ready for one too--it's really too much to watch a character we're instantly so attracted to come so close to death so many times.However, with the change of scenery comes a change of momentum. This is not surprising considering how emotional the opening third of the movie is--I'm not sure any movie could sustain that degree of intensity for the length of a feature film. Sadly though, the couple's time in the beach house becomes, as one critic put it, a kind of music video which features long shots of "endearing" moments between the two main characters. I would have liked to see more *real* discussions, interactions, etc. between the two than the endless close-ups of their pretty faces. The townsfolk are superfluous--essentially they're stock characters, cut-outs of real people that serve no real purpose in the film. Vincent D'Onofrio's Gordon is the most confusing character of all. He seems to have some sort of flirtation with Hillary, but this is never developed, explained, or resolved. A shame, as it could have added more drama to a section of the film that was sorely lacking in any sort of dramatic effect.The ending of the movie isn't bad, but it never quite recovers the momentum of the earlier section. However, I find that no matter how much I dislike the middle part of the film, I keep thinking about the film as a whole, and really really liking it. If you're prone to it, this film will probably make you cry. If you're not interested in tears, it's still worth watching because at the very least it will make you appreciate how lucky you are to not be going through what Vincent goes through--not having to make the decisions or sacrifices he makes each day.I recommend watching it at least once and forming your own opinion.